Egypt Islamists fight military rulers over charter

Women walk beside an election poster by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood "The Freedom and Justice Party'" outside a polling station in Cairo —Reuters photo

CAIRO: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group set to dominate the new parliament, accused the country’s military rulers Thursday of trying to undercut the authority of elected legislators even before the house is seated.

The Brotherhood said it is boycotting a council appointed by the ruling generals to oversee the drafting of the new constitution and stayed away from a meeting to set up the panel on Thursday.

In theory, the new parliament will be entrusted with forming a 100-member assembly to write the constitution. But the ruling military council says the parliament will not be representative, so they are appointing the council to ensure the process of drafting a constitution is protected from extremist religious ideas.

Islamist groups won about 68 per cent of seats in the first round of parliamentary elections, according to Associated Press calculations based on official results. The Muslim Brotherhood dominated the vote, with about 47 percent, while the second-place Al-Nour, an even more conservative Islamist party, won about 21 per cent.

The elections were the first since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February in a popular uprising and it was the freest and fairest vote in Egypt’s modern history. There are still two more rounds of voting, but they are not expected to dramatically alter the outcome.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said his group will not be part of the new constitutional oversight council because it will deprive the parliament of its authority.

”The military council is determined to turn against the will of the people,” he said. ”To those who voice fear of Islamists, this is just blackmailing.”

The military has been the most powerful institution in Egypt since army officers toppled the monarchy in a 1952 coup, giving the country its four presidents since and wielding significant influence and economic power ever since. It is a secular institution that has traditionally controlled access of Islamists to its ranks.

The newly created oversight council is seen by the Brotherhood as an attempt by the military to ”reproduce” a set of constitutional principles proposed earlier which sparked anger and led to street protests. Those principles would have enshrined a future role for the military to intervene in politics.

Critics view the military’s moves as an attempt to reassert its ultimate authority over the country, which is deeply threatened by the uprising.

Ghozlan said that given the Muslim Brotherhood’s latest election success, the group is worried about military intervention in the constitutional process.

But the Brotherhood, according to Ghozlan, believes that the high turnout in elections gives their victory legitimacy and should protect them from such interference.

”We thought the long lines has showed everybody, including political rivals, that they should submit to and respect the people’s choice,” he said.

”Even the liberals who are talking about democracy day and night and about the rule of the people are blowing it up,” he said in reference to secular and liberal parties who are participating in the new oversight panel and trying to rein in Islamist influence over drafting the constitution.